Greenwashing – misleading and unsubstantiated environmental claims – is a serious problem that can undermine true sustainability efforts and consumer confidence. That’s why Canada needs rigorous rules and robust guidance for businesses that encompasses all actors that may engage in greenwashing.
Last June, new greenwashing amendments to Canada’s Competition Act were adopted that would require companies to use an “adequate and proper test” or “internationally recognized methodology” to back up their environmental claims. Since then, the Bureau has been working on guidelines for businesses to help explain what these requirements actually mean.
Following an initial consultation, where SeaChoice urged the Bureau to establish rigorous greenwashing guidelines that encompassed all claim types, draft guidelines for businesses were recently published for feedback.
These proposed guidelines lack, well, guidance.
In our latest SeaChoice submission we highlight that the ambiguity built within the proposed guidelines is problematic. In particular, the Competition Bureau’s proposed guidelines for environmental claims, as drafted, provides an extraordinary amount of leeway regarding what may qualify as “adequate and proper test” and “internationally recognized methodology”. Such ambiguity and leeway opens the door for certifications to evade scrutiny by the Bureau and could result in greenwashing associated with certification claims to continue unmitigated in the Canadian marketplace.
Concerningly, but not surprisingly, during the initial consultation, certification schemes advocated to the Competition Bureau that certifications should qualify as “internationally recognized methodology” (and thereby evade scrutiny by the Bureau).
While certifications are often viewed as validating sustainability claims and preventing greenwashing, research also suggests that they can inadvertently contribute to and even incentivise greenwashing. Researchers also point out that all too often government regulations, designed to hold actors accountable for greenwashing, do not require certifications to substantiate their environmental claims.
Environmental and social organisations have been increasingly vocal on concerns about certifications. SeaChoice and allies have long called out the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) for awarding certification to unsustainable fisheries. We have also called out farmed seafood certifications, Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP), and GlobalG.A.P. numerous times. Investigative journalism and whistleblower testimonies have uncovered breaches of certification standards and auditing practices.
And it’s not just seafood certifications. The issue is systemic across commodities and certifications – including forestry, palm oil, cotton, soy, cocoa, coffee, and more.
For example, civil society investigations into the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) certificates which have also found the trafficking of illegal timber. A study found the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil certification to be “meaningless” as 75 percent of certified plantations had been deforested or located in areas with endangered species. The authors emphasized “certification does not ensure environmental sustainability “. The Better Cotton Initiative certification has been linked to land grabbing, illegal deforestation, corruption, and human rights abuses. Other certifications that have been criticized include soya, cocoa, and coffee certification schemes.
While the above examples don’t mean that all certified products or businesses are greenwash, it does highlight that greenwashing by certifications can and does occur.
This is why SeaChoice has strongly advised that the Bureau does not simply defer to certification schemes as “adequate and proper” tests or automatically qualifying as “internationally recognized methodology”.
SeaChoice urges the Competition Bureau to make the expectation to all businesses that all potentially misleading environmental claims, including certifications, will be investigated for greenwashing.
